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The HOLY GRAIL of DRIVING

Newly trained drivers usually crash sometime in their first thirty months of experience. It doesn't have to happen but inattention and poor visual habits pretty well guarantee it will! In most cases it's because they have NOT been taught how to stay habitually focused to the driving task regardless of the distractions. I call this Selective Focal Patterns (SFP).The problem with SFPis it's governed by cause and effect rather than habitual discipline. In this behavioral pattern, visual search patterns are random and dependant upon a "cause." Where as Habitual Focal Patterns (HFP)are performed routinely without the need of causal stimulation. Unfortunately, most drivers are locked into causal SFP instead of HFP.

How did this happen?

Remember your Mother cautioning you to "watch where you're going!" Or Dad showing displeasure while pointing out you just made a mess of something because you weren't paying attention; all of which is well meaning for your protection. But rules have a way of interferring with fun and self-entertainment, so ultimately, we do our own thing when Mom and Dad are not hovering over us. Yes, we prefer to find our own way, by paying attention to the twists and turns of the pathways we choose to follow, and it all seems to work out in the end; or does it?

Therefore when driving, we mostly focus to the front while our minds tingle with other non-driving thoughts and problems. Thus there is a serious and pressing need to learn how to routinely keep in visual contact with the rear and side-view areas via the vehicle's mirrors. Doing this correctly means to glance from place to place in a sequential pattern, from the most to the least vulnerable areas.

In this pattern, the 180 degrees from ear to ear, and to the rear, gets its share of attention, as we glance there time and again between looks to the front. Does this strike you as being completely opposite of what 'others' have stressed to be the way to drive safely? GOOD!!! Keeping 'your eyes on the road' is certainly necessary, but not to the point where the sides ard rear are checked infrequently. Remember this, most accidents are rear-enders. Proper use of the Triangle and Diamondof Safety programs will give you more options to avoid running into others, and to keep others from crashing into you!

Here's a catchy phrase to help you remember what we must continuously do to insure everyone's safety: "C IT AS IT IS."

"When you "C" it by breaking away from the normal visual driving patterns, and then separate the functioning parts in logical succession, as lines traversing around you to form the Diamond of Safety, then you are using my 'Investigative System' to protect you." In other words, you will...

C IT AS IT IS

Created by Dr. Ron McNees, All rights reserved

"49er Driving School is not authorized or sponsored by, or otherwise affiliated with, the San Francisco 49ers or the NFL."